Interpretive Summary: Barley is the fourth most abundant cereal in world. US barley production is currently around 320 million bushels per year, with Idaho being the top barley-producing state (National Barley Grower Association).
In this study we investigate genetics of seven barley traits: malt extract, wort protein, soluble/total protein (S/T), diastatic power (DP), alpha-amylase, beta-glucan, and free amino nitrogen (FAN).
We developed a six-rowed spring barley population by crossing Stellar, exhibiting high DP, with the 01Ab8219 barley line, exhibiting superior agronomic attributes. We used the latest marker resources (specific DNA sequences) for detecting regions on barley chromosomes affecting malting quality. In the process, we have produced new barley lines which combine desirable parental traits.

Technical Abstract:
Malting barley is of high economic and scientific importance. Determining barley grains that are suitable for malting involves measuring malting quality, which is an expensive and complex process. In order to decrease the cost of phenotyping and accelerate the process of developing superior malting barley cultivars, markers for marker-assisted breeding (MAB) are needed. In this study, we identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) for malting traits in a Stellar/01Ab8219 F6:8 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population grown at Aberdeen (Ab) and Tetonia (Tet), ID in 2009 and 2010. We identified QTL associated with malt extract, wort protein, soluble/total protein (S/T), diastatic power (DP), alpha-amylase, beta-glucan, and free amino nitrogen (FAN) at a LOD =2.5 using a high density genetic map produced by merging diversity arrays technology (DArT) with the current single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) map. Novel QTL were identified for DP and FAN on 5H, ST on 6H, and beta-glucan and malt extract on 7H chromosome. Dissection of the genetic regions associated with malting traits suggests the involvement of multiple molecular pathways. The resulting molecular markers may prove useful for barley improvement.